


Trust

by Serena_chan



Category: White Collar
Genre: Community: collarkink, F/M, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-11
Updated: 2011-08-11
Packaged: 2017-10-22 12:31:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/238031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serena_chan/pseuds/Serena_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for this prompt on the kink meme - <i>Neal never thought that he would be able to share Peter - he hated that Peter had a wife - then he met her and Neal realized that she was a great lady who he couldn't take Peter from.  When she sat him down and told him that he could have Peter too, Neal knew that he made the right choice.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Can also be read at my LJ ([Trust](http://hourglass244.livejournal.com/20784.html)) and somewhere on the [kink meme](http://collarkink.livejournal.com).
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing whatsoever.

It had been so easy to hate her when Elizabeth Burke had been no more than just a name on a piece of paper. Neal knew that he had no real reason to hate the woman. After all she'd met and married Peter years before Neal had ever began even _thinking_ about doing anything illegal.

And really, Neal should be thanking her. Peter probably would have caught Neal that time at the museum if the agent hadn't been so obviously distracted by her upcoming birthday and what to get her.

But Neal liked being the center of attention. More specifically, he liked being the center of _Peter's_ attention, and he didn't like the idea of sharing him with some faceless woman he'd never met.

Kate often laughed at him when Neal would brood because Peter had (momentarily) stopped tailing him to go home to his wife. She said that Neal acted more like his jealous mistress than his adversary.

Neal would merely smile and shrug at her comments. He couldn't exactly tell Kate that Peter was the only one who could truly match him wit for wit.

Kate was amazing - she really was. She had her own little ideas and talents that made cons go off without a hitch, but all of Neal's truly brilliant heists, ones involving carrier pigeons or breaking into the Louvre... Well, those had all been Neal's ideas, and his skill that pulled them off.

Peter was the only agent to connect the dots, even though he usually ended up arriving too late.

So Neal kept upping his game by pulling bigger and flashier cons, delighting in every moment he was able to steal Peter Burke away for himself. In the end, it was his grandiose efforts that may have led to him getting careless enough to get caught.

The thing that amused Neal the most about this whole cat and mouse game, however, was that when Peter finally arrested him, he seemed to think that all of Neal's grand heists had been carried out to impress Kate into taking him back. He had no idea that those cons were pulled for him.

****

While Neal was in jail, he had plenty of time to contemplate just what sort of woman Elizabeth Burke must be. What about her had caught Peter's eye in the first place? Neal was sure that she must be intelligent and perhaps pretty.

He made sure to send Peter yearly birthday cards to ensure that the agent never really forgot about him. He liked to speculate what Elizabeth would think of the con that had taken up so much of her husband's time sending him mail.

****

When Neal had finally been released into Peter custody, the first opportunity he got he went to Peter's house to see her for himself. He wished he could say that he wasn't impressed, but the moment she opened the door she took his breath away.

She was stunningly beautiful and kind. Her eyes sparkled with intelligence, and she accepted Neal graciously into her home. She didn't seem to hold a grudge for all the times that Neal had stolen Peter away from her.

When he asked her about her work, he discovered that she had impeccable taste in all things. How she lived with Peter and his hideous suits Neal would never know.

Neal found that no matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't muster up the same animosity he'd felt towards her before. While it was hard for Neal to abandon something that he wanted, especially something he wanted as much as Peter, he knew that there was no way he could compare. Elizabeth truly was the perfect woman.

Still, he hadn't realized just how perfect she was until one summer day during Neal's first year out of prison. He'd been sitting on their sofa, sipping lemonade with Elizabeth, and watching Peter playing with Satchmo out of the corner of his eye, when Elizabeth placed a gentle hand on his.

"You really care about my husband, don't you?" she asked softly.

Neal had been surprised, although he thought he'd hidden it rather well.

"Of course I care. Peter controls my freedom," he said flippantly.

The look Elizabeth gave him let him know that she wasn't fooled.

"If it was anyone else I think I'd be jealous," she said slowly. "But I like you, Neal, and I think you're good for him. As long as it's you, I don't mind sharing."

Then she'd squeezed his hand and favored him with one of her warm smiles before getting up to begin preparing dinner. Neal had sat there in shock for several moments before the full weight of her words settled over him, and he'd scrambled to go help her in the kitchen. He wasn't sure just what he had done to gain the approval of this amazing woman, but whatever it was he was sure he didn't deserve it.

Still, Neal Caffrey had never been known to turn down something he wanted so much when it was freely offered. He only hoped that he could prove himself worthy of her trust.


End file.
